Cooperstown

The apex of the 12u baseball season is the coveted trip to Cooperstown to play in a weeklong tournament with 100 other teams from around the country (and sometimes the world). Mason’s team ended their season with this tourney, and Mason LOVED it! 

I was concerned this trip was going to be a bust because 1. Mason had some dirtbag teammates.

2. There was buzz about pin trading, which sounded completely lame yet also cost us a mandatory $200 in startup costs for team pins. 

3. When searching for “Fun things to do in Cooperstown” Trip Advisor ranked a trip to the city hall in the top 10. What? 

Well… while I wouldn’t suggest rural New York over a trip to the Caribbean, Cooperstown was actually enjoyable! (Except that time Caleb ate some questionable chicken nuggets from a gas station McDonald’s en route to NY and spent a day getting over food poisoning.) 

Mason stayed in a bunk room—literally a double wide filled with bunk beds—with his coaches and teammates. When they weren’t playing baseball they were playing wiffle ball, wandering the grounds or trading pins.

About those pins. Mason and I agreed that the worst part of Cooperstown would certainly be the pin trading part. Because what pre-teen boy wants to trade team pins with other pre-teen strangers? Turns out: everyone! Mason said the pins might have been his favorite part of Cooperstown. At one point during the week, we grabbed him a pin trading book from the gift shop to house all of his “rare” pins. He even set up a pin trading stand outside his bunkhouse and began trading his wares. I should have known my outgoing child would enjoy this activity! 

The bunk rooms weren’t exactly glamorous, and Mason made mention of how messy some of his teammates were—commenting that one kid kept leaving his wet bath towel on the ground, proof that Mason actually does listen to me when I try to guide him on the dos and don’ts of real world living. He even checked in through text during the day letting us know that he had eaten and brushed his teeth and showered. This experience may make me re-evaluate my expectations that he will forever live in my basement! 

{The coaches texted proof that the boys were alive and well over the course of the trip.}

{The rows and rows of bunkhouses. No air conditioning, limited air circulation, and no plumbing. Moving Mason in on a very hot and humid day gave us a taste of and a throwback to moving in to college dorms. Not all that far off—in both time and living conditions!}

{Some of the moms on this team were a bit extra and planned out an insta-worthy decor theme for the boys to follow—matching sheets, pillowcases, fans, etc. Mason decided that because he isn’t on a girls’ dance team (his words) that he would pass on all of the coordinating frill. And isn’t it funny that he and his bunk mate—whose mom is sensible like me—accidentally matched bedding and throw blankets! Here was my insta-picture to document the matchy-ness.}

Had Caleb not spent the first two days miserably sick, our “vacation” would have been better, but the two of us were still able to fit in some fun outside of watching baseball. We hiked around a state park—where we ran into a huge police presence complete with more than a dozen K-9 units who were searching the tall grass. Not feeling like being a part of whatever they were searching for, we decided to leave. Turns out it was just monthly training. Phew!

{SO many cops. And that was only half of them!}

{Before leaving the park we explored a bit. The view from up high was fantastic!}

The best part of Cooperstown—from a captive visitor standpoint—was the never ending selection of mediocre restaurants and breweries in nice settings. Tons of options. All OK. 

{Another best part: Being able to sit in our tiny bubble

of two and watch Mason play.}

And a side perk was that Peyton Manning was there watching his son’s Colorado team play. While other families we were traveling with bumped into him, Mason only caught a picture of the back of his head. In Mason’s words: I didn’t expect Peyton Manning to look like a grandpa.

{Grandpa Manning. Outfitted with a traditional old man leather sunglass strap.}

About the baseball experience… Mason’s bat started out cold, and it took half the tournament to warm up. But once it did, he had some great doubles—not so easy on a small field! He had really hoped to knock one over the fence, but it wasn’t in his cards. Several teammates hit dingers, and Mason was happy to celebrate their successes! 

{Mason’s baseball trading card. Looking like big league material!}

{Mason’s team during the introduction parade. It was the first time we saw them after we had checked them in the day before!}

{Mason’s team played at a bunch of different times over the course of the week. And when they weren’t playing, they were trying to sneak a peak under the fences.}

{Mason in action. Caught by the pro photographers on the field at every game.} 

When not playing baseball, it was expected that parents would leave the grounds and the players would stay. We did, however, check Mason out for an evening of mediocre dining with the perk of showering in a single stall bathroom. We offered to take him out for dessert, but he was itching to get back to the party, so we ended the night quickly. 

{I’m not sure what Doubleday Field is, but Caleb and Mason seemed to know.}

After his team was eliminated in bracket play, Mason decided he had enough of the dog and pony show so we checked him out for good and spent some time at the Baseball Hall of Fame before starting our journey back home. 

{The HOF was kind of interesting. Kind of not.}

But perhaps the real showstopper of the week were the fat heads we had commissioned as a surprise to our players. I will never not laugh at these goofy larger-than-life faces!

{If your face must be blown up to gigantic size, it’s best that you are cute. Mason checks that box!}

{Big boy head on a girl body.}

{Man body flex!}

{Mason on Mason.}

{Mason watching us watch Mason.}

{Tough guy. And Mason.}

{These things were never not fun. Or funny!}

As a consolation for not hitting any dingers, a reward for being an amazing teammate, and a perk of being an only child for the week, we stopped at Cedar Point on the way home for an overnight stay where we would spend some time riding the big rides! 

{Mason talked me in to some of the rides, and Caleb in to the rest. I’d like to say the monthlong headache was worth it…}

This was the perfect way to wrap up the end of his time with the JR Stars organization. Peace out!

Boating

Because being in disease carrying water for one day isn’t enough, we traveled to Iowa to do it again the next day!

Boating with the cousins has become an informal tradition over the past few years, and we are so lucky to have a fun family who lets us invite ourselves on their boat!

{Tubing, wake boarding, flopping around on the lily pad. These kids did it all!} 

{Inside the boat is my favorite place to be. Although I did venture on to the lily pad once, and Caleb quickly reminded me why I don’t do that. Butthead.}

{We stopped off for dinner where the drinks were flowing!}

{Boating until the sun went down. It was a perfect day!}

Tubing

Unless it’s an ocean, swimming in unfiltered water is not my thing but I am here to help cross off bucket-list items for friends this summer! So tubing down the river with all the kids it is…

{The only picture I snapped of the girl and me. Before we hit the water.}

{The last person—besides me—that I was expecting to get into the water. But she loved it!}

{Floating with all of my body parts out of the water is exactly how I like to be in river water.}

{Gross. The boys spent way too much of the trip dressing themselves in river weeds.}

{The boys rescued us whenever we got too close to the edges!}

{We made some stops at different landmarks. The rope swing kept these boys busy for a long time!}

{The water was so shallow. And then so deep!}

{A rare moment with these three hooked together and not fighting.}

We expected the trip to take about 1-2 hours. It took 4. We were out of drinks before the launch was out of sight. Yikes! 

*It rained super hard overnight after our trip, and the river was overfilled and moving so fast that tubing was shut down for the weekend. I heard it took 45 minutes to make the same trip the next day. Hardly enough time to finish any drinks!